The covenant abandoned?
But you have rejected, you have spurned,
you have been very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant
and have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and reduced his strongholds to ruins.
41 All who pass by have plundered him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 you have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame. Selah
46 How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all men!
48 What man can live and not see death,
or save himself from the power of the grave? Selah
49 O Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,
51 the taunts with which your enemies have mocked,
O LORD, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
The question “How long, O LORD?” was not answered during the lifetime of the psalmist nor during the lifetime of the exiles. Those who returned from exile to rebuild the temple saw only some faint foreshadowings of the answer. Even John the Baptist saw only the beginning of the answer. We, however, have been blessed to see the fulfillment of the promise to David, which kings and prophets longed to see.
We have seen how God’s eternal Son came into the world as David’s son. Like David, he was not a self-chosen king or usurper. He was chosen and anointed by God. But even during Christ’s years on earth the humiliation and lowliness of the Davidic kings had not yet ended. The Son of David endured mockery and affliction. He too asked, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
But after suffering and dying to free his people from sin, death, and the devil, he rose from the dead and was exalted to rule with power at the right hand of God. Only Christ, the Son of David who was perfectly faithful and obedient to God’s will, could fulfill this promise by ruling over the kingdom of Israel forever. He rebuilds God’s temple, the church. He gathers people from the whole world into God’s heavenly Jerusalem. When he returns to rule visibly, the question “How long, O LORD?” will be answered for every believer finally and completely.
Closing doxology
52 Praise be to the LORD forever!
Amen and Amen.
This closing doxology is the doxology not merely for Psalm 89 but for the whole of Book 3. It brings both the psalm and the book to a triumphant end.